The Bet
by StraniqueGirl0684
Summary: Butch has never been known for being particularly aware of his emotions. But what happens when he becomes the impetus to realizing something that had been right in front of his face all along? GREENs fic.


**Author's Note:** Hi everybody! So…this is my first attempt at writing a Fanfiction. I just love this pairing so much, so I figured I would give this a try. I would love to hear what people think of it. All feedback is appreciated! I want to get better at this in order to pay homage to some of my favorite ships.

Thank you so much, and I hope you enjoy!

* * *

It all started with a stupid bet.

Or, at least, that was what Butch chose to believe.

Because now, sitting across from his two best friends as they laughed about something that happened on date night which Butch had obviously not been present for, he felt something akin to rage eating away at him. Watching Buttercup yuk it up with Mitch had never bothered him before. So why should it start to now?

Well, because they were a _thing_ now. It wasn't two friends dicking around anymore. It was a boy and a girl who had gone on dates, probably kissed (and maybe more.) The joking felt exclusive now, and it pissed Butch off to no end.

So how the hell had he ended up third-wheeling it and feeling unbelievably pissed off about it?

Butch Jojo opened his big mouth, that's how.

* * *

Maybe saying it started with the bet was a little inaccurate. After all, the bet didn't come to Butch on a whim. In fact, if it wasn't for a number of events leading up to that fateful day, the idea of Buttercup and Mitch being together romantically would have been laughable to him. But it all happened so fast that it made his head spin.

The first incident took place in a normal enough place: his living room. He and Buttercup had started a Friday night tradition when they were twelve of watching horror movie together to kick off every weekend. It didn't matter whose house or what room, but they made sure that at eight on the dot their asses were planted in front of a gory flick or psychological horror. Buttercup always preferred the former, but some part of Butch enjoyed seeing her reactions to the latter. The toughest fighter practically shit her pants when faced with some of the scenarios, though she would strenuously deny it.

But Butch saw it all: the way she avoided certain objects depending on the subject matter of the movie, the way she eyed certain people more warily. It always gave him great material for the weeks until he convinced her to watch another one.

Luckily for Buttercup, it had been a gory flick the night of the first incident which took place only a few weeks ago. Butch lounged on one side of the couch, spreading his legs wide to take up as much space as possible. Buttercup sat with one leg draped over his closest one and the other tucked under her chin. He glanced at her after a particularly gruesome hacking (with piss poor special effects) to see if she was laughing with him. But, for what was probably the first time in years, she wasn't.

He sat up a little bit and narrowed his forest green eyes, observing her for a moment. Her lime green eyes remained locked on the screen, but it soon became clear that she was mentally checked out.

Butch frowned. Well, that was unacceptable. So he did what any good friend would do.

He loudly slurped on his pointer finger before jamming it into her ear.

Buttercup leapt off the couch, hastily wiping at her ear. "Ew, you dickweed! What the fuck was that for?!"

"You weren't laughing at the shitty special effects. I had to make sure you only _looked_ like a zombie."

"And that was the only way to do it?!""

Butch shrugged. "It worked."

"Ugh. Whatever." She threw herself back into her previous position and glared at the television.

He rolled his eyes before flicking her in the temple. "What crawled up your ass? You usually love this shit."

The raven haired girl rubbed her temple irritably. "Nothing."

"Bull shit."

"Shut up!"

"No way. You're even pissier than usual. What's up?"

Buttercup turned to eyeball him, and Butch was surprised to see the hesitation on her face. She'd never had trouble telling him shit before, so she better not start doing this now. Once she said it out loud, he would make some crude comment, she would scowl, and then they could go back to what they were doing. That was how it always worked. Why change it?

"You wouldn't get it."

"I'm not the dumbest Jojo, you know. I could probably get it."

"You're not the smartest Jojo either."

"Brick is a freak. And is also not a good distraction." Butch flicked her nose this time. "Seriously. What's wrong with you?"

She sighed as she leaned her head against the back of the couch and fixed her gaze on the ceiling. The way her mouth twitched told him how much she wanted to talk about this. Whatever the hell it was.

"Promise me you won't laugh."

It was not a request. Butch simply nodded in response.

Buttercup put her face in her hands, causing her curtain of dark hair to block her face from view. She mumbled something that even his super-hearing couldn't catch. Oh for the love – this was ridiculous.

He pulled her hands down from her face. "You wanna try that again?"

"I'm the ugly Powerpuff."

Butch hadn't been sure what had been on her mind, but he sure as hell hadn't been expecting that. He floundered for only a second before getting out a, "What?"

She scowled. "Don't make me say it again, dickweed."

"I heard what you said. I just don't get it."

"What's not to get?" she grumbled, crossing her arms like a petulant child.

"What the hell brought this on? When have you ever given a shit about that?"

"So you admit that I'm the ugly Powerpuff."

"Don't be a bitch. I didn't say that, and you know it."

"You're not denying it either."

Groaning, Butch rested his forehead in his hand. "What exactly do you want me to say here? If I say you're the hot one, I'm a letch. If I say you're the ugly one, I'm a bad friend. If I say you're all the same, you'll get all bent out of shape about that too. There's no right thing to say here, Butterbutt."

"Fair point." Buttercup sighed again, long and low. "I don't know. It just occurred to me that both of my sisters are out on dates tonight, and I'm doing the same thing I've done every Friday for the past five years."

"You wound me," Butch said, clutching at his heart with a grin.

"Oh shut up. You know what I mean. Bubbles has had a date for almost every Friday that we've been doing this. Even Blossom agreed to go on a date for the first time in her life tonight! And it got me thinking…I don't think I've ever been asked on a date before."

"I don't believe that for a second. Besides, Blossom is on a date with _Brick_. They'll probably curse each other out all night, make out in the back of Brick's stupid car, and then go back to pretending they hate each other. Is that a date anyone wants?"

A small chuckle escaped her. "Shut up, you know that's not the point. Besides, they're shit at pretending. Have you seen the way they look at each other when they think no one's looking? It's the gooiest, grossest thing ever."

"I second that."

Buttercup bit her lip. "But I kind of wish that, just once, a guy would look at me like that. Brick has been looking at Blossom like that since puberty reared its ugly head, and everyone on the planet looks at Bubbles like that. So it would be nice to be on the receiving end of that attention. Just once."

"Who knew you were such a girl, Butterbutt?"

"Shut up, dickweed."

He laughed. "I think you're making too big a deal out of this. I'm sure some guy has looked at you with googly eyes too, but you just didn't notice."

"You really think that? Or are you just being a douche?"

"Your faith in me is heart-warming, really. But I really think it. I'm not saying I've seen it or anything, but it's probably true. Because I'm pretty sure being ugly wasn't ever going to be part of the Powerpuff DNA."

She snorted. "Is that your way of saying I'm pretty?"

"Nope. Just not ugly."

Buttercup punched him in the arm with a roll of her eyes before settling back into her seat. Butch caught the slight upward tilt of her mouth as she returned her gaze to the movie.

"Thanks, Butch."

"Anytime. Now, I'm rewinding this shit. You need to see it!"

* * *

The second incident happened the following day when the pair was playing basketball on the court near Townsville park. It had been a nice enough day for the end of September, and they both wanted to keep the game in mind in the remaining months before the season started.

As Buttercup shot another three pointer that swished right through the hoop, Butch noticed Mitch approaching the court and raised his hand in a brief wave.

"Suck on that! Did you see that money shot?!" She looked at him then only to notice that he hadn't be fuming over her admittedly awesome shot but was greeting Mitch instead. With a grin, she mock-saluted the brunet. "Hey Mitch. What brings you this way?"

He shrugged. "I thought I might run into you guys down here."

"Did you want to play?" Butch asked, one eyebrow cocked. Mitch sucked at most things that involved coordination, so why the hell would he just show up out of the blue and ruin their perfectly good practice session?

"Nah, but I figured I could practice my action shots, if that's cool?"

Oh, right. Mitch decided to take photography this year for some reason. Apparently he had some weird knack for it – always managing to catch the light "just so" or some shit like that. Butch couldn't understand most of it, but he liked Mitch's pictures. They weren't blurry or anything, and that was good enough for him.

"Whatever," Buttercup said with a shrug. "Just don't get in our way, okay? I don't want Mama Mitchelson lecturing me about how delicate you are again."

Butch snickered as Mitch flushed a bright red. "Just play."

With a grin, Buttercup scooped up the basketball and chucked it back at Butch to check it. After a minute or two, Butch honestly forgot Mitch was even there. His only focus became winning. No way was he going to let her kick his ass again!

…that shot didn't count!

As she completed the layup, her t-shirt rose ever-so-slightly, exposing a thin sliver of her pale stomach – and it was that moment that was accompanied by a blinding flash. The first that Butch had noticed.

"You creep! Let me see that picture!" Buttercup howled, tugging her shirt down.

Mitch rolled his eyes before grinning. "It wasn't that high, calm down. It's a good shot, I promise."

"Mitchelson, let me see it!" Buttercup lunged for him, but he slipped out of the way. With a growl, she flipped him off.

In response, the cheeky bastard snapped another picture of her livid expression.

"You douche! Just show it to me!"

As she began to chase Mitch around, Butch stood on the basketball court and merely watched. Her words from the previous night bounced around in his head as he looked at Mitch looking at her. Was that the look she was talking about? Butch couldn't put into words the look exactly, and it didn't look exactly like the look Brick gave Blossom, but it was close? Maybe?

Ugh. This emotional shit was too confusing. Besides, what did it matter if Mitch looked at Buttercup in the way that she wanted? His look today didn't look much different than his look yesterday. So he had either been giving her the look all along, and she hadn't noticed, or this was not the look Buttercup was after.

Shaking his head, he plucked the basketball from the ground where it had rolled and began dribbling up and down the court. No reason for him to watch his friends acting like idiots; he got to see this show all the time.

He heard Buttercup's throaty laugh behind him, a laugh of triumph. She had probably succeeded in grabbing the camera.

But again – nothing to watch here. Because even in that moment it didn't occur to Butch exactly what he would see if he bothered to turn around.

* * *

The final incident seemed worthy of a bigger word than incident. It wasn't something that would change the world on a global scale or some shit like that, but for the small halls of Townsville High it would forever be remembered as and considered a huge fucking deal.

Buttercup Utonium showed up that following fateful Friday in a dress.

Not just any dress. A dress that seemed to be almost painted onto her skin. Butch frowned. Something like that just had to be against the dress code. Looking at the mouth breathing idiots who were all drooling at her now – like she hadn't been coming to this stupid building for the last three and a half years, just like the rest of them. Like she was some new specimen that needed to be examined.

It made Butch want to knock their lights out.

Additionally, the outfit made Butch exceedingly uncomfortable. His brain couldn't rationalize that the girl walking toward him was the same Buttercup who had walked the same trek the day before in a baggy t-shirt, jeans, and ratty sneakers.

And, not to sound like a letch, but did she stuff her bra for the occasion too? Or had he really not had any understanding of what she looked like to begin with?

However, the one thing that reassured him that this girl and his best friend were truly one and the same was the telltale scowl on her face. Lime green eyes blazing, she almost strode past him without stopping.

"What the hell happened to you?" Butch asked as she passed by.

Buttercup heard him and stopped, turning to face him. Her scowl morphed into a grimace. "Bubbles."

He probably should have guessed as much, but it was more fun making her say it. "She wrestled you into that get-up?"

His eyes widened as he noted a slight pink dusting on her cheeks. Hell must have frozen over. First Buttercup Utonium wore a dress, and now she was blushing? What the hell had Bubbles done to her this morning?!

"Not exactly…"

Before Butch could ask what that meant, the blonde Puff in question appeared beside them. "Hi Butch!"

"Hey Bubbles." Butch's eyes flickered over the dress once more, in an emerald green he now noted wryly, before glancing at Bubbles. "How much did you pay her to wear that this morning?"

Bubbles giggled. "Nothing, silly. But doesn't she look pretty?"

A lose-lose question if Butch ever heard one. So he simply raised an eyebrow before saying, "You honestly expect me to believe Butterbutt picked that outfit herself?"

"Oh, no! I picked it out!"

"And she agreed to wear it?"

"I am right here, you know!" Buttercup seethed.

Ignoring her sister, Bubbles giggled again. "Of course! She's the one who asked me –"

" _Bubbles!_ " Buttercup hissed. "Enough!"

Now the bubbly blonde frowned. "But you said –"

"Never mind that. Let's just go."

Without waiting for a response, Buttercup grabbed her sister's wrist and half-dragged her down the hallway. Butch watched warily until the two girls turned the corner. Somehow he was more confused than he had been before. He scanned the hall for the only other person who would have any idea about what had transpired in the Utonium household that morning.

Bingo. Redhead at twelve o'clock.

He briskly walked over to the eldest Utonium sister who was oh-so-obviously _not_ waiting for someone. Butch chuckled. If he were a nicer kind of guy, he would tell her that his older brother already disappeared to the school's wood shop for the early hours of the morning. But Boomer was on messenger duty, and Butch needed answers.

Though he would be sure to mention to Brick later that his _not_ girlfriend had looked rather adorable searching the hall for him that morning.

"Hey, Red."

Blossom locked eyes with him, and her posture visibly sagged before righting itself again. "Oh. Good morning, Butch. How are you?"

Well, this was fucking gold. He'd have to tell Buttercup later! Speaking of which –

"Well, since you asked, I'm confused. And I think you could help me out."

"Do you need a tutor? Depending on the subject, your brother might be able to help –"

"It's not about school."

Pink eyes blinked back at him. "Oh? Then what can I help you with?"

"What the hell is your sister wearing?" Best just get to the point with the Powerpuff leader.

"I have two sisters, Butch. To which are you referring?"

"You know damn well which one."

"I wouldn't want to assume. You know the nasty things people say about others who do that."

Oy. Butch did not need a lecture. He needed answers. "Fine, Red. What the hell is _Buttercup_ wearing?"

"A dress."

…wasn't this girl supposed to be the smart one? "No kidding. Doesn't that seem a little strange to you?"

Blossom chuckled softly. "Butch, I don't pretend to understand why Buttercup does the things she does. Did you try asking her about why she dressed up today? Maybe she just finally wanted to wear the dress. She bought it months ago, and it sat in the back of our closet this whole time. It's good that she's putting that money to good use."

Wait, what? "Hold on, Red. Are you saying Buttercup bought that thing? She didn't borrow it from Bubbles?"

"Of course not. Bubbles doesn't wear green. On principle or some such thing." Blossom waved a hand dismissively. "And why are you so distressed about this? While a little tighter than I would wear myself, I thought Buttercup looked quite lovely this morning."

Butch frowned. "I'm not distressed."

Another chuckle. "Of course not. How foolish of me." At that moment, the bell rang signaling the start of the school day. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm afraid I have to get to class."

After a few steps separated them, Blossom turned to face him. "Oh, and Butch?"

"Yeah?"

"Just ask her."

Brow furrowing, Butch stood still as the pink Powerpuff disappeared. He'd already tried that! What really annoyed him more than anything was his inability to figure out why it was bothering him at all. Of course Buttercup could wear whatever she wanted. And Butch knew full well that she looked good in basically everything anyway. So why the hell did this bug him so much?

It wasn't until later in the day that his brothers were the ones who managed to get him to figure it out.

The three of them sat together every other day when they all had the same lunch. Boomer and Butch sat side-by-side across from Brick. Butch had just taken a huge bite of his first taco when Boomer brought up the topic that had plagued Butch's mind all afternoon.

"Did you guys see Buttercup today?"

Butch choked on his traitorous taco.

Brick nodded absently. "Yeah. She looked good."

 **Crunch**. Well, there went that taco shell. Good thing Butch grabbed a fork anyway…

Boomer considered this. "I think I was too shocked to notice."

With a snort, Brick took a bite of his own taco. Once he swallowed, he said, "You're just about the only guy here who hasn't then. It's all anyone's been talking about all day."

 **Snap**. Okay. Maybe Butch should've grabbed two forks.

"I don't really get what the big deal is." Boomer shrugged. "She's still the same Buttercup. Just in a dress."

"A dress that shows the rest of the mouth-breathers at this school that, yes, Buttercup is in fact a girl. And a hot one at that."

 **CRACK**. Oops… Lunch trays were not meant to be punched. Especially by someone with superpowers…like Butch.

Boomer's blond eyebrows disappeared behind his hair. "Dude, you okay?"

"Fine," Butch grumbled.

Brick rolled his eyes. "He's being pissy about all of the attention Buttercup is getting."

"Am not."

"Butch, I'm not an idiot. You've been a miserable fuck all day."

"So what? What does that have to do with Buttercup?"

"I was hoping you could tell me," Brick challenged. "This will all be much easier if you figure it out for yourself."

Butch scowled. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Eyes widening, Boomer looked between Brick and Butch. "Ooooh. I get it."

"See, Butch? Even the dumb and the dumbest over there figured this out faster than you did."

"Hey!" Boomer shouted indignantly.

"I don't have a clue what the fuck you're talking about." Butch crossed his arms, leaving his taco mush uneaten.

Brick sighed, massaging his temples. "I know. That's what's so sad."

Putting a hand on Butch's shoulder, Boomer offered a small smile. "Butch, you're jealous."

"Jealous of what? That I don't get to wear a different outfit and get to be the center of attention for the day? Fuck that noise. I couldn't care less about that shit."

"That wasn't quite what I meant…"

Another sigh escaped the redhead across the table. "This has to be done. This is just sad." Then, under his breath as if he hoped his brothers couldn't hear him, Brick muttered, "I just hope Blossom doesn't kill me for this."

"What are you -?"

"So how about that dress?" Brick shouted to the general populace of the cafeteria.

The catcalls and whistles that resounded off the walls were practically deafening. Butch felt his left eye twitch for the first time in years as he began to pick up specific phrases in the cacophony of noise.

" _It's a Godsend!"_

" _Who knew that girl had such a set of tits on her?"_

" _I would let that girl step on my nuts to get a look at what's under that skirt."_

" _I already knew I would fuck her, but damn!"_

The twitch intensified to the point where Butch could barely see out of his left eye; it gave the room a strobe light effect that he hadn't seen in a long time. It was only then that Butch realized that his fists were clenched and shaking. He turned back toward his brothers to see Brick smirking at him, and Boomer's eyes wide in fear.

"B-Butch, calm down!"

"I AM CALM!" As if to disprove his already dubious argument, Butch's eyebeams shot out as if with a mind of their own and nearly singed the hat off of Harry Pitt's head. They would have had the guy not ducked out of the way in time, causing the beams to create a nice crater in the wall instead.

"Very convincing, Butch. Where the hell is your Oscar?" Brick drawled with another roll of his eyes.

Butch sank into his seat. Was he really jealous? What did he care if a bunch of guys ogled Buttercup? If it didn't bother her, it shouldn't bother him. Right? Besides, this was sort of like what she wanted. All the guys were noticing her now.

But that was stupid! They should have noticed her before anyway! If she really thought any of these guys were worth her time, she wasn't nearly as smart as he gave her credit for. Any guy who was only going to talk to her now that she wore some tight dress was not worthy of being her first date. He had to believe she knew that.

Of course she did! …right?

"I think you broke him," Boomer whispered, eying Butch warily.

Brick shrugged. "It needed to be done."

He sat there and half-listened as his brothers talked about him like he wasn't even there, but Butch couldn't bring himself back to participate in the conversation. Him being jealous didn't make any sense, of course. It was out of the question. Obviously this was just his protective instincts kicking in for his best friend's wellbeing. Nothing more, nothing less.

And this misguided self-convincing is what led to the stupid bet being placed at all. If one could even really call it a bet.

It was at the end of the school day, and Butch stood at the entrance near the parking lot. His brothers were taking their sweet ass time getting out of the school today, and it was grating on his nerves even more than usual.

"Hey, man. You okay? You look tense."

Butch looked up to see Mitch staring at him with furrowed brows over his dark eyes. Maybe Mitch would understand… But best not bet on that.

"I'm good."

Mitch smirked. "I, uh…heard about what happened in the lunch room today. You sure you wanna go with that answer?"

God damn it. He should have known word would spread too fast to stop the other lunch from hearing. He just hoped that Buttercup didn't read into it like his stupid brothers did. The two idiots hadn't left him alone all day about it.

"It was just a weird day…"

"Yeah. So how about that dress?"

Butch stiffened and averted his gaze. "What about it?"

"It was a surprise, that's for sure." Mitch glanced at Butch. "She looked nice."

"She looked fine, I guess."

Mitch raised an eyebrow. "You don't think so?"

Butch shrugged. This was another one of those questions that didn't have a good answer. What did he even say to that?

"I wonder how many of those guys asked her out today. Probably none of them." Mitch chuckled. "They all talk a big game, but none of them have the stones to actually do it."

He considered this. Did Buttercup really want someone to ask her out? She'd mentioned it, but did she really mean it? And did she have to resort to this to get it done?

Hmmm. He regarded Mitch again. Maybe there was an answer here…

"Would you ask her out?"

The brunet shrugged. "I guess."

"Do you have the stones to do it?"

Mitch blinked once. Twice. "What?"

And then it happened. The moment Butch didn't know he would soon regret: making the bet. "I bet if you asked her out, she would say yes. Unless you're admitting that you _don't_ have the stones to do it?"

In the moment, it sounded like a great idea. Butch knew Mitch. Mitch wouldn't fuck with Buttercup's feelings or just try to get in her pants like some of the other douchebags they went to school with. It was the perfect solution!

Right?

"Are you sure, man? That doesn't seem…weird to you? I've known Buttercup forever. I don't think she thinks of me like that."

The words spilled out of him, a uncontrollable torrent. "Well, you like her, right? I saw you checkin' her out when we were playing basketball the other day."

Mitch choked. "W-what?! No I didn't!"

So maybe Butch had misread the look. Or maybe Mitch was a fucking liar. Only one way to find out. "So you'd rather let one of those other assholes ask her out?"

"I didn't say that either!"

"Then ask her, you chicken shit."

Scoffing, Mitch shoved his hands in his pockets, fixing his gaze on the ground. "I don't know, man. I wouldn't want her to think this was about…well, you know. The dress."

Butch silently swore to burn the stupid piece of fabric the second he got the chance. Tonight's movie night was at her place anyway, so he'd have the perfect opportunity to destroy the accursed thing.

"She deserves better than that."

Obviously. Mitch knew that Butch knew that. It should have reassured Butch, hearing it out loud, but it made something in his stomach clench instead. Ignoring the uncomfortable feeling, Butch pressed on. "Just tell her that if you like her so much. Otherwise you're probably going to miss your chance forever. Buttercup is waiting for a guy with stones to ask her out. And you'd treat her better than most of those other idiots who have been drooling over her all day."

Then, as if summoned, the lime-eyed girl strode out of the building and toward the pair of them.

"Here's your chance, Mitch."

Mitch's eyes widened. "Right now?!"

"Sure, why not? You gotta go for what you want in this life! And I think Buttercup wants a boyfriend enough to let it be you."

With a scowl, Mitch muttered, "Thanks for that."

"Off you go, now!" Butch gave the brunet a slight shove in the direction of their raven-haired female friend.

Buttercup saw the shove and raised an eyebrow at the scene. "What are you guys doing?"

"Uh…" Mitch peeked back at Butch who simply rolled his eyes and made a gesture for him to continue. "Hey, Buttercup."

"Hey, Mitch?" The confusion only became more apparent on her face as the second ticked by.

"How was your day?"

"…fine?"

"Good, that's good. I'm glad to hear it was good!"

Butch fought the urge to go smack Mitch over the head. He had never been this much of a mess talking to Buttercup before! What the hell? If he liked her now, he liked her a week ago. And he'd been way less of a disaster then! What was he doing?!

"Riiiiight." Buttercup turned to Butch. "Is he okay?"

"Beats the hell out of me," Butch muttered, warily eying Mitch.

She turned back to the brunet and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Dude, you're acting crazy. Are you –"

"WILL YOU GO OUT WITH ME?!" Mitch practically shouted, garnering the attention of several other students in the parking lot.

" –okay…" Buttercup finished lamely. "I'm sorry, what?!"

"You just…I was…well…would you go out on a date…with me?" Mitch mumbled out, eyes darting around to look anywhere but at Buttercup.

"Are you serious?"

Mitch, finally understanding that words were not his strong point in this moment, simply nodded.

She pursed her ruby red lips and eyed Mitch before shrugging. "Sure. Why not?"

 **Clench**. Butch frowned at the discomfort his stomach was causing him. Wasn't this what he wanted? It was a win-win. Buttercup got a date, and Butch knew the guy wasn't a total tool. What could be better?

So why did his stomach insist on knotting itself just at the thought of it?

His friend finally found his voice again and stammered out, "G-great. How about tonight?"

What the fuck? Mitch knew this was Friday – their longstanding movie night! He was crazy if he thought Buttercup would ditch Butch today of all days.

"Sounds great."

Emerald eyes blazing and stomach bottoming out all together, Butch snapped his gaze to Buttercup. "What? But it's movie night!"

"Oh. If you'd rather do it another night, that's okay. Sorry. I forgot." Mitch grinned sheepishly.

And yet Butch still felt an overwhelming urge to punch his dear friend right in the teeth.

"Well, we always have next week, right, Butch?" Buttercup asked. "Besides, it's not like it will be the first time we've missed a Friday or anything."

That was hardly fair! Almost every Friday they had ever missed was because of a hotline call. Butch had never cancelled on her of his own volition like she was doing now! …well, okay, there was one time that he took Julie Smith on a date like two years ago. But he'd asked Buttercup if it was cool with her first!

Was this some kind of revenge for that? All she would have had to do was say no! Like he was so tempted to do right now…

But, instead, he simply said, "Yeah, sure."

Buttercup seemed to deflate for just a second before turning her attention back to Mitch. "You heard the man. We're good to go."

"Cool. Pick you up at 8?"

"Sounds good." It was at that moment the other two Powerpuffs appeared at the exit of the school with his brothers in tow. Buttercup noticed this too and began to move over toward her sisters, probably so they could all fly home together as usual. "Later, Mitch!" And then, with nothing more than a wave in Butch's direction, she fully turned around and jogged over to her sisters.

Within moments, the three girls took off into the sky, leaving the four boys standing in a distinctly uncomfortable silence. Butch couldn't help himself; he felt himself glaring at Mitch and was powerless to stop it.

Boomer cleared his throat, being the first to break the stilted silence. "Uh, so what happened here? Everything good?"

"Yeah. Everything's fucking perfect," Butch hissed. "You assholes ready to go? Mitch has to go and get ready for his big _date_. We shouldn't keep him from it."

Brick and Boomer exchanged a look that Butch chose to ignore. It was one of those looks his brothers had been sharing way too often, and it always led to something embarrassing or some probing questions. Butch had zero patience for either right now.

"Date? Who with?" Brick asked, not looking at Mitch when he asked the question. Instead, his gaze was trained solely on Butch, undoubtedly to gauge his reaction. Well! Butch would show him! No reaction here, folks. Go ahead, Mitch! Say it!

"Buttercup."

 **CLENCH**. Butch willed his face to stay neutral, but he felt his left eye twitch, just once, when his stomach clenched again. And he knew Brick noticed it based on the expression on his brother's stupid face.

"Oh, shit," Boomer murmured, now also looking at Butch.

"What the fuck are you staring at me for?! Can you both just congratulate the bastard so we can go home?!" Butch roared, fighting back another onslaught of twitching.

Brick sighed. "Right. Well, have a good date, Mitch."

Boomer nodded. "Take her somewhere cool! Buttercup would probably hate a sissy, normal date."

"Thanks… I'll keep that in mind."

No longer willing to wait for his brothers, Butch took off into the sky toward the observatory. His blood boiled in his veins, and he needed to hit something. So he went immediately into the training room, ignoring his father's greetings, and began wailing on his favorite punching bag. Never once allowing himself to think too hard about why he was so pissed off in the first place.

* * *

And that was how Butch ended up in this stupid situation. A stupid decision of word choice. A bet of sorts. Now he sat and watched his two best friends act as if he wasn't even there.

And it pissed him off. It had been two and half weeks of this shit, and Butch could barely stomach it anymore. Thankfully, they weren't disgustingly cutesy like a lot of other couples that roamed the halls, but it didn't really make him feel any better. Just because they had a little bit of shame didn't mean that Butch didn't know what went on behind closed doors.

He couldn't think about that, though. He had ripped the door off of their fridge at home the last time the thought entered his mind – that Buttercup and Mitch could become…could do…could have…ugh. No! Not here. Butch would end up throwing the ratfink brunet through the wall, and he couldn't afford the cost of the damages.

But then Mitch put his arm around Buttercup, and she smiled at him – a smile with all of her teeth. A smile Butch had never seen on her face before.

When Mitch pressed his lips against her forehead, Butch finally lost it.

"Fuck this." Butch stood up and stormed out of the cafeteria. He doubted the couple even noticed his absence, being as wrapped up in one another as they were.

Ugh. Disgusting.

Blind rage turned out to be a real thing as Butch unintentionally ran into someone in the hallway. Without looking to see who it was, Butch muttered a "sorry" and kept on walking. However, whoever he bumped into clearly couldn't read the mood because they chased after him and grabbed him by the arm.

"Butch?"

Turning to look at the person he had practically barreled over, Butch saw a familiar pair of blue eyes looking up at him in concern. "Oh. Bubbles. Sorry. I didn't see you."

"I got that, actually," Bubbles said with a small smile. Then she noticed the fact that his entire body literally shook with unbridled rage, and she took half a step back. "Butch, what's the matter?"

"Nothing. I gotta go." He turned and kept walking down the hallway.

"Butch, please, wait!" The petite blonde caught up to him once more and stood in front of him. "You look like you could really use a friend right now."

He scoffed. "My two friends are too busy making googly eyes at each other. I don't really need that right now, thanks though."

Bubbles frowned. "I thought we were friends?"

This was so not the time to have this argument. Sure, Bubbles was sweet. But she didn't know him, not really. Not the way…well, whatever. It wasn't worth arguing about. "Yeah, sure."

The simple phrase seemed to ease her frown somewhat. "Good. So why don't you tell me what's bothering you, if you can't talk to Buttercup or Mitch about it?"

"Do me a favor, and don't say those names so close together. Okay?" Butch grumbled.

Her blue eyes widened, and she tilted her head slightly. "Okay. Are… _they_ what's bothering you?"

Butch shrugged but said nothing. He didn't mention the fact that those traitors had decided to make every day of the weekend "date day," leaving Butch zero opportunities to watch scary movies with Buttercup. Or play basketball with her; he could feel himself getting rusty, and that pissed him off more. He chose not to bring up the fact that he hadn't had two minutes alone with her since their first date. Mitch hovered around constantly, and Buttercup never stopped him. Butch swallowed back the fact that this whole time, he hadn't missed Mitch in the slightest. He didn't care about having time with him. He only missed her, and he didn't want to go into what that probably meant. The ugly truth kept rearing its head, no matter how much he tried to ignore it:

He probably liked his best friend more than he should. But she was dating their other friend because Butch told him to ask her. Butch was an idiot.

A slight touch on his arm brought him out of his thoughts as he made eye contact with Bubbles again and immediately wished he hadn't. Her eyes watered, and her expression looked so desolate that Butch almost wondered if he had spoken those thoughts aloud.

"You really miss her, don't you?" Bubbles whispered.

Butch rolled his and shrugged off her touch, breaking eye contact.

The blonde frowned. "Come on, Butch. It won't kill you to say it."

"Are you sure about that?"

"I'm positive. Won't you feel better if you just admit it out loud?"

"Admit what?"

"That you miss her!" Bubbles exclaimed, throwing her hands up in what Butch assumed was exasperation.

"I guess…"

"You guess you miss her, or you guess it would make you feel better?"

Ugh. This was making his head hurt even more. "If I say both, will you stop fucking asking me about it?"

A watery laugh was his reply. "Have you told her? That you miss her?"

"If she wants to spend all of her time with Mitch, that's her fucking business." Butch sighed but tried to mask it with a cough. "If he makes her happy, then it doesn't really matter whether I miss her or not, does it?"

"Oh, Butch." Out of the corner of his eye, Butch saw Bubbles clasp her hands to her chest. "You really love her."

Now Butch snapped his gaze back to hers. Not only did she use _that word_ , she didn't even phrase it like a question! What the hell was that about?! He barely was accepting the fact that he had a crush on his fiery counterpart, and Bubbles was trying to bring love into it? This was why they weren't real friends.

"I think you're getting a little ahead of yourself there, blondie. Lo-love is a pretty big word to just throw around like that."

Bubbles, to Butch's horror, cooed. "I'm so happy for you!"

"…what?"

"Oh, Butch! You really love her too! Thank goodness! You had us all so worried. Blossy thought maybe you really didn't care at all, but I knew! I always knew you'd figure it out eventually. I'm so glad!" The tears were freely spilling down the blonde's face.

Butch simply stared at her, trying to process what he heard. Something about it seemed important. What was that word she'd just said? "Wait, wait, wait. Did you say 'too?'"

The excited babbling stopped immediately. "Uhm…no?"

"You did!" Butch gaped at her. "Does that mean…that she…I mean…does that mean what I think it does?"

Bubbles giggled. "Oh, Butch. You don't think she picked out an _emerald green_ dress for _Mitch_ , do you?"

He had only vaguely noticed the color and didn't bother considering that it had been an intentional choice. Unable to form words, he continued to stare at Bubbles.

She giggled again. "Don't you think you should go, you know, talk to her?"

"Uh, right." Butch cracked his knuckles before scratching the back of his head. "And Bubbles? Thanks."

Bubbles beamed at him. "Think nothing of it. Now go! Before –"

And then the bell rang. Signaling the end of the lunch, and the last chance Butch would have had to see Buttercup until the end of the day.

"Oh no," Bubbles murmured. "Don't worry! I'll make sure to get her away from Mitch at the end of the day. Meet us in the parking lot, okay?"

Butch barely managed a nod before Bubbles took off down the hallway. Huh. Maybe the girl really was his friend after all.

* * *

The rest of the day passed by agonizingly slowly. Butch picked his nails raw and practically chewed a hole in his lip through his last few periods of the day. The clock seemed to purposely tick at half the speed it normally did.

By the time the final bell rang and he gathered his things, Butch was a wreck. He knew he looked awful at best, but he was hoping Bubbles was right. If Buttercup really…liked him (the other word was way too big to use for an uncertainty) like that, she wouldn't mind, right?

His heart slammed in his throat when he saw her with Bubbles, no Mitch in sight. How the blonde managed to do that was a magic to be considered at another time. Right now all Butch could do was look at Buttercup.

Thankfully, after that one day, she had gone back to dressing like her usual self. She wore slightly less ratty sneakers, but the jeans and baggy t-shirts were back in place.

And she was still the most beautiful girl Butch had ever seen.

When she finally noticed him there, she smiled at him. Not that toothy bull shit she'd been showing the world while dating Mitch. But a soft tilt of her mouth that really just suited her so much better than the huge dental ad smiles ever would.

"Hey, Butch. What happened to you at lunch today?"

Bubbles gave him a quick thumbs-up from behind her sister before darting back towards the school, most likely trying to keep Mitch away from this train wreck. The girl truly was a saint.

"Uh, about that…look," Butch took a deep breath before locking his gaze on hers. "I need to talk to you about something."

"Yeah? What?" Buttercup's eyes searched his face, trying to figure out where he was going with this. And somehow Butch doubted she'd ever guess.

"I really…" Come on, Butch. Don't back out now! This is your one shot at this! "I really hate seeing you with Mitch." Whew. Now it was out there.

Buttercup looked genuinely surprised by that. "What? Why?"

"That's what I wondered at first. And I got to thinking, and I'm pretty sure I know why."

"…well?"

Butch took a deep breath. This was it: do or die. "Buttercup, I really like you. A lot. I know that you're my best friend, and it could fuck everything up. But it's the only explanation I've got. I know I probably don't give you that stupid gooey look you're after, and I'm not the most romantic guy in the world. But I'd like to give that mushy shit a try…with you."

The silence that stretched the span of a few seconds were the most unbearable moments Butch ever felt. Maybe Bubbles led him astray and Buttercup had no interest in him at all? That would be fucking cruel. God, no wonder people hated asking each other out. No wonder Mitch was such a damn mess! This waiting shit was awful. Not knowing the outcome was something akin to torture.

A punch on the arm was what brought him back to the present moment this time. It was hard enough to hurt, but definitely not the hardest punch Buttercup had ever thrown his way. The light pink dusting her cheeks was adorable and so unlike her and such a complete contradiction to the punch she'd throw that Butch found himself liking her all the more.

"It's about time, you idiot."

And then she grabbed him by the face and kissed him. Now Butch understood what all the hype was about. Sure, he'd kissed a girl or two before, but this was different. He felt his heart beating faster, and his knees threaten to buckle just a little. Holy shit did kissing feel different with her.

When she pulled away, he felt a goofy grin stretched across his face. He simply admired her flushed face for a moment before a cold, hard piece of reality washed a bit of the warm fuzzy feelings away.

"What about Mitch?"

"What about me?" came a voice from the entrance of the school.

Butch immediately took a step away from her. "Look, Mitch, I can explain. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have –"

"Told me to ask out a girl you were interested in? Yeah, no shit." Mitch grinned. "About time you got it together, man. I was afraid I was going to have to kiss her on the mouth for you to figure it out."

Buttercup rolled her eyes. "Ugh. Barf. Thank God it didn't come to that."

Butch's gaze flickered between the two of them. "Wait. Wait a minute. Are you saying you didn't want to ask her out?"

"Of course I didn't! She's like my sister!" Mitch visibly shuddered. "But you were being an idiot. I mean, come on, man. She wore your signature color in a dress that she probably could barely breathe in. The fact that you didn't get it then had me worried that Bubbles and I were on the wrong side of the bet."

His emerald eyes narrowed. "What do you mean by bet?"

"Mitch and Bubbles bet Blossom and me about whether or not you…well, you know." Buttercup shrugged, averting her gaze. The confident girl who grabbed him by the face mere minutes ago was gone and replaced by a nervous girl her barely recognized. "Liked me. Like that."

"We knew you did, even if you didn't. But you made it really difficult to prove." Mitch shook his head. "Now, I'm going to leave because I think things are about to get gross."

Butch's goofy grin stretched across his face again. "Yeah, that's probably for the best."

Buttercup looked up at him and smiled her genuine smile at him again. He almost felt like his heart was swelling in his chest. God, how had he not known? He spent almost every second with her that he could. The only date he had been on in the past five years had been that one-off with Julie Smith, and even then he knew in the first ten minutes that she wasn't the girl for him.

Because Butch guessed that part of him always knew what he wanted but didn't have the stones to go for it. Part of him also probably assumed she'd just always be around. He was incredibly lucky he hadn't lost her for real. If it had been anybody other than Mitch, this would definitely have played out differently.

Despite all of the horrible things he'd been thinking about the brunet over the last few weeks, Mitch really was a good guy and a better friend than he deserved.

"So are you just going to stare at me some more, or are you going to kiss me, dickweed?"

Butch chuckled. "My bad. I guess I just like looking at you."

"You've been able to look at me every day for years."

"Yeah. And I've never gotten sick of it."

Buttercup's cheeks flared red now instead of pink. "I thought you said you weren't romantic?"

He touched her cheek gently, loving that she leaned slightly into his touch. "I really missed you these last few weeks. I guess it just made me realize how much I like having you around."

"Who are you, and what have you done with Butch Jojo?"

Butch chuckled. "Still me. Just one that knows a little better what he wants now. Sorry for taking so long."

Buttercup smirked. "What's a few years of waiting? Now stop talking."

With another chuckle, Butch finally listened to her, really listened to her, for the first time in years and pressed his lips to hers. And as she melted into him, he couldn't help but thank whoever was listening for the fact that they both lost their bets. She hadn't really wanted to say yes to Mitch, and he loved her with everything he had in him.

Now, their future relationship? That was something safe to bet on.


End file.
